Change
by WaterNymph125
Summary: Gaston and Belle have always been friends, but is there potential for something more? When Belle is attacked by wolves, what will happen? Who will look after her? Why, Gaston, of course!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with Beauty and the Beast, either the original or the remake.

A/N - I posted this story a while ago, under a different name and under a different account, but it was removed when I deleted my account for a while, so I decided to repost it, because I've changed some things, and I've written more chapters for it, too! So hope you enjoy!

Belle was sitting in a quiet part of the woods, reading as usual. The sun was shining softly through the trees, the stream gushing and bubbling, the birds tweeting happily and the leaves waving gently. She was lost in a book about a knight in shining armour, an evil witch, a beautiful princess and an evil curse.

"The prince raced through the castle, checking every room for his love. He climbed the tower stairs quickly and quietly. He reached the top and was taken aback. An eerie green light was escaping from the crack under the door. He opened it and there, inside, was..."

She felt something tap her shoulder and screamed. Instantly, she heard a voice reassuring her. "Belle, it's only me! Are you alright?"

She knew who was speaking before she had even opened her eyes.

"I'm fine, thank you Gaston. I was simply reading, and as my father always says, my imagination took over. I'm sorry; I didn't mean to scream at you!"

He replied with an infuriating "That's fine 'ma belle petite fleur', I'm here to protect you now."

She sighed up at him, giving him a glare that he hated.

"All right then. No more of that!" he thought.

"Why doesn't my charm work on her? It works on the triplets! It works on every other darn girl in town, apart from the one I want it to work on!"

While he was pondering all this, he didn't notice that Belle was watching him carefully, a small blush forming on her small porcelain-like cheeks. When he eventually snapped out of his daydream, he caught her, just before she turned away. Taking this in, he smirked and rested his arms on her shoulders.

"How are you? Did you miss me?"

Belle wondered what he was talking about, and realizing that he had been away on a hunt, asked him, "What do you think?" Turning her head over her shoulder and smiling that little flirtatious smile that only she could pull off, Gaston tried to resist picking her up and smothering her with kisses. She smiled when she realized this and, as if she read his mind, shrugged in answer. He stared at her and chuckled.

"How different she was now to when she first came to town", he thought.

He picked her up, placed her quite high in a nearby tree, and whispered softly, his breath tickling her neck, "Wait a moment. You'll be impressed, I promise."

He walked away from the tree, and then taking a running jump, landed, on his feet, in the tree next to her. The tree shook from the impact, shaking Belle, who slipped. With his lightning quick reflexes, he grabbed her, then, wrapping his strong arms around her slim waist, pulled her easily up and in close to his chest. He sighed in delight when she didn't pull away, but instead snuggled to him, relaxing.

"I like you like this 'ma belle petite fleur.'

"Like what?" she asked him.

"I don't know. Just like this."

"Yours?" she giggled into his large, toned chest.

"Yes, Mine."

He tilted her head up gently, and leaned in towards her, waiting for her. She reached up and his lips touched hers, sending a shock through his body. He cupped her face gently, pulling her closer. When they eventually broke apart, they sat quietly together, each enjoying the others company.

When he could see the sun beginning to set, Gaston looked to the girl lying on his chest. She was sleeping peacefully, her face looking purely angelic, with her beautiful, shining, brown locks framing her face. He gathered her close to him, keeping one arm free to get her safely from the tree onto his horse, which had been waiting patiently the entire afternoon.

"He's getting a dozen apples when we get back!" he thought. He carefully mounted the horse with Belle still in his arms. He rode slowly at first, so as not to wake her.

In the middle of the woods, after the sun had set, with Belle still asleep, Gaston noticed something amiss. The woods were quiet.

Too quiet.

Suddenly, he heard the low growl that he was afraid of hearing, for Belle's sake. Wolves. With his hunting skills, he quickly worked out what he was up against. There was a pack, of thirty or more, surrounding them.

He shifted Belle to his other side so he could reach his crossbow. She stirred, almost falling off the horse. Gaston led his horse over to a relatively safe spot, and tied him to a tree trunk. He crept off quietly, being careful not to lead the wolves towards his Belle. Drawing closer to the beasts, he fired an arrow straight at the first beast to dare face him, Gaston. He defeated the next four with ease. When the wolves stopped coming, he was puzzled.

"There was a full pack of them", he thought.

In agony, he realized why. The beasts were all going for the horse, the thing with the most meat. And when they got close enough, they would smell Belle's sweet, succulent, feminine flesh. The thought turned his blood cold. He sprinted back to his horse, but he was too late.

The horse and the sleeping Belle were surrounded, just as he had feared. His attempts to keep the horse calm were painfully pointless. As soon as the horse grasped he was surrounded, he stood up, throwing Belle off, then ran off, deeper into the woods She landed heavily and awoke immediately. When she saw the wolves surrounding her, she screamed out in complete terror.

Petrified, she turned to Gaston and mouthed, "Help me, please!"

Gaston was already on the job, shooting any beast that dared move what he deemed, too close. One, however, avoiding the arrow by the hair on his tail, moved in on Belle, preparing to attack. Going un-noticed, he crept closer and closer to Belle, until he was close enough to bite, and bite he did. Belle screamed in sheer agony, clutched her arms to her stomach and collapsed.

"That's it! No-one hurts my Belle and lives to tell the tale."

Gaston shot at every beast he saw, almost all of them falling. Any others were grasped by the throat and flung them deep into the woods. He raced back to Belle, who was lying unconscious, her abdomen gushing blood. He undid his hair tie and tied it gently but firmly around the wound, causing her to start. He held her close, talking to her, his jet-black hair falling in her face. She was confused, wondering what was happening and where she was.

Belle woke up with a start, and grimaced with the pain in her stomach. She sat up slowly and looked around.

"Where am I?" She thought..


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with Beauty and the Beast

Hope you enjoy!

She listened carefully for her father's wheezing, but she couldn't hear it. She looked around again, paying attention this time, and realized this wasn't her room, or her house! The room was a beautiful deep red, with antlers and animal heads decorating the walls. The curtains were a simply magical shade of purple, and the floor was wooden, with a large red mat covering more than half of it. The furniture was exquisite, fancier than anything she had ever seen. She then glanced at the bed she had been sleeping in. There were more covers on that one bed than she had ever seen in her whole life. Each one was a different shade of red, and as soft as silk. Any other time, she would have realized where she was, and whose house she was in. But with the pain in her arm and her throbbing head, when she saw Gaston snoozing at the bottom of the bed, she gasped, waking him up.

"Belle, are you alright? How is your stomach?"

He watched her worriedly when she didn't answer.

"Belle?"

Straining to hear her, she whispered, "What happened last night? Why am I here?"

Relieved that she was alright for now, he answered, "Last night, we were in the forest, you fell asleep on my horse. We were riding home, when a pack of thirty wolves attacked. I tried my best to protect you, but I missed, one shot, when it mattered most. He took a fair bite! I tied my hair tie round it, and when we got home I bandaged it. Do you remember?"

She sat quietly for a moment, before nodding her head.

"Yes, I remember. But why am I here? Isn't this your house?"

"Yes. It is. I took you here because you were losing a lot of blood, and your own home was too far away. I hope you don't mind."

He watched her sitting there, in his bed, while she took in this new information. "So Gaston really does care about me", she thought.

"What about my papa? Does he know where I am?"

He replied quickly, so she wouldn't worry.

"Yes, when you were settled, I got Mrs Potts from the bar to watch you, while I went to tell him where you were."

They both sat quietly, the sun shining through the half opened curtains.

"Thank you, Gaston. You saved my life. Is there anything my father and I can do to repay you?" she asked softly, her gentle voice sending a shiver through his body.

"Well..." he smirked.

"There is something you could do. Come with me to the tavern tonight. Let me buy you dinner and a drink, and you can admire my trophies!"

She giggled and replied, "Yes to dinner, maybe to a drink, but no to admiring your trophies! You just asked me out Gaston! You should be trying to impress me, not boasting about all your hunts!" Gaston chuckled.

"All right then! Now, I want you to rest for the reminder of the day. Then I'll make you breakfast. All right? I'll bring you home later, so you can prepare yourself for our date", he said, smirking again.

"I'll go and fetch you a fresh bandage first. Wait here."

He walked out of the room, trying to suppress a grin. Finally, Belle was his. She owed him her life, literally. "No!" he thought, shocking himself. "What would Belle say if she heard him talking like this? She would hate him! He would take things as they come, and if Belle wanted to be his, great, and if she didn't, he would respect that.

He fetched the bandage from the kitchen and brought it up to her. She offered to do it herself, but didn't protest when he did it for her. She winced as he cleaned the wound with hot water and rum, trying not to cry out. He offered her his hand, knowing how sore wolf bites could be. She squeezed it tightly, as he tied the clean bandage around her now clean wound, gently but firmly, as he had done with his hair tie the night before. After this, he left Belle to rest, while he prepared breakfast.

"What do girls like to eat? What does Belle like to eat?" he panicked. "What if she doesn't like what I like? I eat five dozen eggs every morning, and I'm quite sure she couldn't even manage five! What else can I make?"

He pondered this for a while then thinking back to when he was a little boy, he remembered his mére, teaching him how to make pancakes.

"I'll make those! She's always saying how much she loves the pancakes that her father used to make! Well, my méres pancakes were fantastic! I'll make them now."

He rushed about his blood red kitchen, gathering everything he would need. "100g flour, 2 large eggs, 300 millilitres of milk. Now, mix. Where's the pan?" He muttered to himself.

He busied himself making the best pancakes he had ever made, for Belle. When they were done, he set them as prettily as he could on his best plates, and his best tray. Then he went outside, to the very back of the garden, and picked her a bunch of wildflowers. He knew that she loved those. There were always a bunch of them on the table at her house.

He went upstairs, and walked over to the half open door. He stepped inside, and to his surprise, Belle wasn't in the bed! He set the tray down on the desk in his room.

"Where is she? Now, stay calm, Gaston. She can't be far! Look, her cloak and basket are still here, so she's still inside the house. Now, question is, where?"

Suddenly, he heard water running, coming from his bathroom across the hall. He walked over and stood outside the room.

"Belle? Are you in there?"

He listened for a reply from her soft voice.

"Yes Gaston. I'm washing my hair. It's filthy from last night!"

When he heard her groan in pain, he stopped. "If she's washing her hair, the she's only bending over my sink, so, she's still dressed." He thought to himself.

"Belle, would you like some help? Unlock the door!" He called through the door.

He heard her tiny footsteps cross his huge bathroom, then the click of the door unlocking. He looked down at Belle, trying not to laugh when he saw her soaking wet and her hair like rats tails. She placed her hands on her hips and started up at him, with a smile on her face. He did laugh then. He laughed so hard at the small, soaking woman standing in his bathroom that Belle herself began to laugh too.

After they had finished laughing, Gaston sat Belle down on the edge of the bath, and draped the softest towel that she had ever felt round her shoulders. He filled the sink with hot water and lots of bubbles. He gently tilted her head back, so that her hair was in the water. He washed it with care, tilting her head back further and further, so that she was half lying on him and her scalp was in the water. He massaged the shampoo gently into her scalp, letting her relax on him, after her previous ordeal. Belle watched him in the mirror with surprise, wondering how someone so big and tough on the outside could be washing her hair so gently now.

When he had finished rinsing her hair, he helped her up gently, and turned to face her. "Thank you Gaston. I couldn't have done that by myself."

"That's fine Belle, it was a pleasure. But you will have to pay me" he replied, with a serious smirk on his face.

"Fine" she sighed. "I'll admire your trophies later." He chuckled and answered, "Well, that would be great, but unfortunately, that's not what I'm after anymore!"

Belle studied his face, wondering what he was on about. Suddenly, she caught on, and giggled in spite of herself.

"Very well, then. Let's get this over with!" Gaston looked shocked, until he saw the smile on her face.

They leaned in, in unison, and their lips touched. They kissed, both Gaston and Belle going lightly at first. When they parted, and saw the look on each other's faces, they touched again, deepening the kiss. Gaston kissed her with skill and confidence, and feeling her swoon, he lifted her and set her on his lap, cupping her face. Belle parted her lips slightly, which shocked Gaston further, but he didn't protest. When they broke apart, he chuckled at the sight of Belle's flushed face.

"Feeling any better? He asked her softly.

"Yes, much, thank you!" she grinned, looking up at him.

He brought Belle home, and she waved him off as he rode away. She chose a book from her small étagère and went outside to her garden. She sat down and tried to focus on her book, but all she could think about was Gaston, and how he had kissed her earlier. She shocked herself even further when she started to wonder about what she was going to wear for their date tonight.

"What can I wear? I only have a few dresses! Gaston likes my yellow dress, but people will stare. I like my blue dress, but Gaston doesn't like it as much" she pondered this for a while.

"I know!"

She went inside and took out her sewing kit. She snipped and sowed and stitched for hours. When she was finished, she stepped back to admire her work.

Authors Note: Hope you enjoyed it! Please leave a review and tell me what you think!


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